Creating a smoke-free workplace protects the health of all workers. Smoking and second-hand smoke is a leading risk factor for many chronic diseases.
Apart from the legal duty to protect the health of your employees and particularly protecting them from second-hand smoke, there are many benefits to addressing smoking, including:
- Reduced risk of litigation
- Improved productivity of a healthy staff and reduced operational costs
- Annual healthcare costs for employees who receive health premiums are lower
- Potential for reduced insurance costs
- Reduced risk of fire and accidents, which leads to lower fire and accident insurance premiums
- Reduction in cleaning costs and maintenance costs
- Improved reputation in the public and as a recruitment asset when viewed as a responsible employer and one that cares for the environment
- Contribution to society in tackling an important issue. Tobacco is the single most preventable cause of death in the world today.
Here are some quick resources to get you started:
Irish Cancer Society
We are a community of patients, survivors, volunteers, supporters, health and social care professionals and researchers. Together we are transforming the experiences and outcomes of people affected by cancer through our advocacy, support services and research.
ASH Ireland
ASH Ireland, Council of the Irish Heart Foundation is the only national voluntary organisation in Ireland working solely to reduce tobacco use and associated disease, disability and death. Our mission is to work towards eliminating tobacco use in Ireland.
Tobacco-Free Ireland
Ireland’s public health policy objective in relation to tobacco control is to promote and subsequently move towards a tobacco free society. Access the national policy here.
HSE Tobacco-Free Campus Policy
The HSE has a detailed Tobacco Free Campus Implementation Guidance Document that outlines how to make your working environment safer for your employees and anyone who visits your workplace.
Smoke-free Workplace Policy Template
This Smoking policy template from from Workable.com is ready to be tailored to your company’s needs.
While these resources are helpful to get you started, it’s very important to carefully plan your workplace wellbeing activities. Research shows that all activities that target the individual employee, should be coupled with activities at the level of the organisation. In other words, you should always take measures to create a supportive organisational environment alongside lifestyle-focussed supports for your employees. We’ve included detailed advice on how best to plan your activities at both these levels.
Organisation-level Activities
The “bedrock” of the CIPD Well-being Pyramid is culture, leadership and people management. These are the best ways to ensure you’re creating a solid foundation to your workplace well-being efforts:
Individual-level Activities
Your wellbeing initiatives at the individual level will likely focus on raising awareness and/or building skills to manage this wellbeing area.
Other Quit Smoking Resources
In this section you can find additional resources to help you with your quit smoking programmes